Louth is situated at the foot of the Lincolnshire Wolds where they meet the Lincolnshire Marsh and is often known as the "capital of the Lincolnshire Wolds". Louth sits to the east of a gorge carved into the Wolds which today forms the Hubbard's Hills natural area, which was formed from a glacial overspill channel during the Last glacial period. Today the town's River Lud meanders through the gorge before entering the town. The town developed where the ancient trackway along the Wolds, Barton Street crossed the river Lud.

The Greenwich Meridian passes through the town and is marked on Eastgate with a plaque on the north side of the street, just east of the junction with Northgate. The three-mile (5 km) £6.6 million[citation needed]A16 Louth Bypass opened in August 1991. The former route through the town is now designated as the B1520.

The Anglo-Saxon pagan burial ground, northwest of Louth, dates from the fifth to sixth centuries, and was first excavated in 1946.[5] With an estimated 1200 urn burials it is one of the largest Anglo-Saxon cremation cemeteries in England.[3]

In 1643, Sir Charles Bolles, a resident of Louth, raised a 'hastily-got-up soldiery' for the Royalist cause in the English Civil War. Fighting took place in, and around the town and, at one point, Bolles was forced to take refuge under the Ramsgate bridge.[13] By the battle's end 'Three strangers, being souldgeres, was slain at a skirmish at Lowth, and was buryed'.[13] Human remains, found during archaeological visits to Louth Park Abbey during the 1800s, in 'a little space surrounded by a ditch', were believed to date from the Civil War as two cannonballs, from that era, were found with the bodies.[14]

A stone plaque on Bridge Street showing the flood water level

A flood occurred in the town on 29 May 1920, causing 23 deaths. One woman climbed a chimney to survive, another was the only survivor from a row of twelve terrace houses, which were destroyed by the flood waters.[15] Three stone plaques exist in the town to show how high the water level reached. They are on Bridge Street, James Street and Eastgate. Other, less devastating floods occurred on 25 June and 20 July in 2007.

St. Herefrith, or Herefrid, is Louth's 'forgotten saint',[16] whose feast day is 27 February.[17] He was a bishop, who died around 873, possibly killed by the Danes.[18] An 11th century text describes Herefrith as Bishop of Lincoln, but as the bishopric there dates to 1072, Lincoln more probably refers to Lindsey,[19] the early name for Lincolnshire.[18] Similar confusion exists in an inventory of Louth's St. James Church, written in 1486 and transcribed in 1512, where he is referred to as a Bishop of Auxerre, France.[20]

"...heard of the merits of the blessed Herefrid bishop of Lincoln resting in Louth a chief town of the same church. When all those dwelling there had been put to sleep by a cunning ruse, a trusty servant took him out of the ground, wrapped him in fine line cloth, and with all his fellows rejoicing brought him to the monastery of Thorney and re-interred him."[19]

A church dedicated to St. Herefrith, at Louth, appears in accounts from the 13th to 15th centuries,[18] and one of his relics, an ivory comb, is recorded among the possessions of Louth's St. James Church in 1486.[20] Suggestions that the shrine, and later church, of St. Herefrith, were earlier incarnations of St. James has 'no supportive evidence' but St James' is the site of two earlier churches of which little is known.[21]

The town was the origin of the Lincolnshire Rising, which started on 1 October 1536 in St James Church. The rising began after Rev. Thomas Kendall, the incumbent, gave an 'emotive sermon',[22] the evening before the King's Commissioners were due to arrive and assess the church's wealth.[23] Some of the townspeople, fearful that the church treasury would be seized by the men of the Crown, demanded the building's keys.[22] The townspeople kept vigil that night, and, the following day, rang the church bells, 'an ancient call to rebellion', to gather a crowd.[23] Having begun marching from Louth, 50,000 supporters converged to camp at Hembleton Hill, the following evening, before they continued to Lincoln to confront the Kings Commissioners.

Louth museum has a Panorama Gallery which features two back-lit replicas of William Brown’s Panorama of Louth viewed from the top of St James’s spire in 1844. The two original paintings that together form the panorama hang side-by-side in the Council Chamber of the Town Hall on Little Eastgate. The panorama gives a unique and vivid representation of the streets, businesses, homes and people of the town and the landscape as far as the North Sea to the east and northwards to the Humber estuary and beyond.[24]

Much of the town centre is lined with brick buildings from the 17th and 18th centuries.

ABM Pauls used to have a large maltings, which is now derelict. Aldi has been granted permission to build a new store on the site.

Hubbard's Hills is one of the town's main attractions. It was opened to the public in 1907. The park is dedicated to the memory of Annie Pahud, the central character of a beautiful but tragic real-life love story. The park is situated in a glacial overspill channel that forged the course for a small river, the Lud. It meanders along the deep, flat valley bottom between steep, wooded slopes on either side.

Louth will be the eventual southern terminus of the Lincolnshire Wolds Railway, based at nearby Ludborough. The town was formerly on the East Lincolnshire Railway from Peterborough to Grimsby, an important north-south route, which opened in 1848, especially for holidaymakers in the summer. The line to Mablethorpe also started in the town from 1877, closing in 1960. The section to Wainfleet closed in 1961, with the Louth to Grimsby section later continuing for passengers until October 1970 with freight stopping in 1980. The former station is now residential flats; there are other reminders still standing.

Louth is noted for the wide selection of independent retailers, with around 70% of businesses independently owned.[25] In 2012, it was named 'Britain's Favourite market town' by the BBC's Countryfile.[26]

The town's long retail history is represented by a number of longstanding businesses, including the department store Eve and Ranshaw, whose history can be traced back to 1781,[27] Dales & Sons, poulterers since 1896,[28] and the century old butchers, Lakings of Louth.[28]

The first building society branch office was opened by the Peterborough Building Society (now Norwich & Peterborough) in 1973. The town was also the headquarters of the former Louth, Mablethorpe and Sutton Building Society, a local society with several branches and agents in Lincolnshire, which was taken over by the Bradford & Bingley in 1990.[29]

Louth holds market days on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. There is a farmers' market on the fourth Wednesday of each month. A cattle market is held each Thursday at the Louth Livestock Centre on Newmarket.

Louth 'has fought hard' to retain an independent retail focus.[36] In 2008, a local pressure group, Keep Louth Special, was formed by residents, shoppers and business owners, to lobby against a proposal for a major supermarket on the former cattle market site.[37] The group was criticised by a town councillor, the following year, as 'outsiders' who wanted to live in a 'museum town',[38] but a 2012 council report, while recommending a 'large retail development' as ‘necessary’, acknowledged that 'a majority 50 per cent' of surveyed residents opposed it.[39] An initial 2009 planning application by Sainsbury's for a new 30,000 square feet (2,800 m2) store,[40] was rejected by the Council, after appeal, in 2012.[41] Keep Louth Local described a 2013 proposal for an Aldi store as 'not bad news' because it was intended for an 'eyesore' site,[42] and as Aldi stocks 'own brands and a limited fresh-food offering', it would not be 'going head-to-head' with the town market or independent retailers.[43]

Old Market Hall, Louth.

A new group has now formed, called Move Louth Forward, in direct opposition to the Keep Louth Special campaign. They are largely based on Facebook and argue that the town is being held back and if it does not start to change its stance on development and bigger companies coming into the town, it will stagnate and end up as a ghost town. Critics claim it's a "single issue" group, calling for another supermarket while neglecting to acknowledge that Aldi intend to build a store in the town in the near future. Many residents are in favour of the cattle market site being redeveloped into a supermarket retail area and a new improved cattle market built on the industrial estate. The group see this as an essential move for the town. They claim it will bring much needed investment, provide for a much increased need in the town, encourage more visitors to the area and increase footfall through the town centre. A decision is due to be made by East Lindsey District council on 23 July 2014 when the full council will vote.

Job opportunities are quite limited in the town, with many Ludensians travelling to work in larger regions such as Lincoln and Grimsby. Louth Jobs is a local employment resourcer and provides access via its website, Twitter and Facebook Social Network pages.

The town's Playhouse Cinema is on Cannon Street, and is home to Louth Film Club, which won the British Federation of Film Societies' Film Society of the Year Award in 2008.[44] Louth Playgoers Society's Riverhead Theatre is on Victoria Road, to the east of the town.

Transition Town Louth is a community project, which organizes various events in and around the town aimed at promoting awareness of climate change and unsustainable resources. Part of a large social movement, many Transition Towns are now developing. A sub-group, the Community Food Gardens are encouraging a shift towards sustainable communities.

The Centre opened on 6 February 2010, and, by 2013, had received almost one million visits, and was home to over 20 clubs.[45] It cost £12 million and consists of an 8 lane, 25 metre swimming pool and a two level gym with over 80 pieces of equipment, along with a sports hall and other facilities. The Louth Technology Hub, which is using 3D display technology, with a focus on sports groups and clubs, opened on the Centre's upper floor in October 2013.[46]

Louth Tennis Centre

Louth Tennis Centre is situated in Fairfield Industrial Estate to the north of the town and has indoor and outdoor tennis facilities.

London Road

There is a multiuse sports pavilion at London Road, which includes football pitches, a cricket pitch and a multi-use astroturf pitch.

Louth Cricket Club formed in 1822 play their home games at the sports pavilion London Road

A new £3 million further education college, called Wolds College, was built next to the Cordeaux School. Construction by the Lindum Group started in November 2007, and the college officially opened in October 2008. Unlike many Lincolnshire secondary modern schools, both Cordeaux and Monks' Dyke have their own sixth forms; East Lindsey's only other secondary modern with a sixth form is at Skegness. Although the town is well served for A-level provision, vocational courses were less well served until the college opened in this part of East Lindsey in September 2008, although there is the Grimsby Institute some fifteen miles (24 km) away.

Captain John Smith, English, soldier, sailor and founder of the Commonwealth of Virginia, although born in Willoughby, attended the King Edward VI Grammar School, where his name is adorned upon a tablet in the school's 'Edward Street Hall'. A cast iron bust of him also stands within the school's canteen.